Lada Nakonechna. Postcards (Made in…). 2010 — present. Graphite on paper, working time. 64 × 46 cm

Work description

The project began in 2010 and is ongoing. In various countries, Lada Nakonechna creates a “postcard” in the course of one working day—a drawing that replicates the format of a postcard and copies a popular local landscape based on a photograph found online. The artist notes the location of the landscape depicted—the phrase “Made in” refers to the product labeling—and adds a “price” for her work equal to the average daily wage in that country. For example, in Ukraine it is the equivalent of €14.40, while in Germany it is €232. In this way, Nakonechna addresses the transformation of the landscape into a kitschy, mass-reproduced postcard for tourists, and the underlying issues it conceals: geopolitical and economic power structures, the use of resources and labor in some regions to enrich others. 

The gentle parody of the postcard format evokes mixed emotions: the picturesque landscape refers to romantic scenery and the practice of aesthetic contemplation. But the postcard itself is merely a miniature replica—both of the landscape and the experience of viewing it.  It refers back to an era when the modern, extractive gaze on nature as a resource scaled up to an industrial level, in both exploitation and image reproduction. Nakonechna’s Postcards suggest we move beyond passive observation toward critical reflection.